Curious Magnetics

On Tuesday Cecilia and I did the curious magnetics lab. The first experiment that we did was to build a Gauss Rifle. We built one by using a ruler, 4 strong magnets, 9 metal bars, and tape. We set it up so the strong magnetics were evenly spaced out on the ruler. We taped the magnets down. We then placed two metal balls to the right of each magnet. We then placed the remaining metal ball at the left of the first magnet. When I set the ball there it got pulled by the magnet which hit the all the magnet which caused a chain effect so that each of the balls hit the other magnet in front of them. Then one would go shooting off at the end. It was pretty cool!

We also built a pendulum engine with magnets and heat. We put a candle under the magnet that was attached to a wire. We then put a strong magnet on the side of the board. Then we put the heat under the magnet and it began to go back and forth like a pendulum.

I'm not sure how this has to do with Mission to Mars. Maybe we will have to use magnetic force. This has to do with energy because it's using magnetic energy and heat energy.

Missed the Heat Shield Lab

I was not here on Monday, the 17th. I missed the heat shield lab. I am going to talk to my partners who did it to find out more information about it.

Electromagnets: Winding things up

On Friday Alaina, Gemma, and I did the electromagnets lab. We had to build an electromagnet and we used a computer to measure the magnetic strength. We made the electromagnet with a nail, a wire, battery, and tape. We used a vernier magnetic field sensor to measure the magnetic strength. We winded a wire around the nail and attached the ends of the wire to the battery with tape. The first time we wound the wire around the nail three times. We then held the nail over the magnetic sensor to measure the magnetic force. Then we wound the wire different amounts of times until we got to 19 winds. We discovered that the more winds the more magnetic strength. The battery and wire also got hotter when we added more winds.

I'm not sure how this relates to Mission to Mars. This had to do with energy because the sensor was measuring magnetic force.

Body Power

Today Emma, Gabby, and I measured our body power. I found out a lot of interesting information about calories and calculations. I found that energy (the food that you eat) powered you and you need a certain amount to sustain what your doing. We calculated are BEE, MHR, etc. It was interesting to find out what the minimum amount of calories my body could survive on for a day. I think this has something to do with Mission to Mars because we might have to figure out how much we need to eat. Maybe we will run out of food and have to divide it up depending on how much each person needs.

Preperation.

On Friday Maddy and I prepared for the mini culmination. We told each other how to build stuff. That took up pretty much the whole class. We usually get mostly everything right but just little things we get wrong. We need to learn to be more specific and ask questions. Next class time I would like to talk with Maddy and we can talk about how we can be more successful. I think that it will go well. We just need to keep it up.

Preperation for M2M.

Today Maddy and I (Taryn wasn't here) worked on practicing communicating through Skype. I told Maddy how to build a lego structure that she had the pieces to. It was really frustrating but in the end we pretty much got it, except for a couple of minor errors. I'm trying to work on being more specific. We work pretty well together so I think it shouldn't be too bad.

We also have to practice putting other things together. I think that we both just need to work on not forgetting the details and always ask questions if you are not sure of something.

Getting ready for the mini Mission To Mars.

Today we got assigned into two different groups to get ready for a practice Mission To Mars. We are incorporating all the labs into it. We assigned each other different jobs to all the different stations. We are practicing for until next Friday. I was assigned communicating through the computers using Skype. This was very frustrating when I did this in the labs but I am patient so hopefully I will be able to follow through.

The other communicators are Taryn and Maddy. I'm not sure how we plan to practice because we did not have much time to talk in class. I do have an idea myself, though. I think that we should do that lab over again and again to get specific at saying details about putting things together.

Newton's First Law: Inertia

Lego building and communication activity.

Today my group, Louisa, Taryn, and I had to each go in different areas and talk to each other through computers. We each were handed two different paper bags. Inside one of the bags was a bunch of different lego parts. In the other bag there was a structure built from legos. Somebody had the parts to somebody else's built structure. We all had to instruct each other how to built the legos structure. It was very frustrating because some parts where missing and other it was also hard to explain how to put it together. It was also frustrating trying to build a structure because I did not always know what the where trying to tell me. We did not end up building the structures but just parts of them.

I think this has to do with mission to mars because we have to use our communication skills to tell each others how to do stuff. I do not have any questions.

Thrust structures.

Today Sam and I made a thrust structure that would servive three "falls". To test this you would put the structure on a piece of wood, drop a sand bag on the other side of the wood, and then the structure would fly up. There was a bottle balanced on the structure and you had to make it go high enough so the bottle would fly off the pole it was on. Sam and I built a triangular one. We had to build it out of popsicle sticks. Then we tried building it out of wooden scewers. We used the same design for both of them and both worked.

This has to do with Newton's third law because for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. When the sand bag came down, the structure went up! I'm not really sure how this has to do with mission to mars. I think we will be aplying Newton's third law in some way.

Making a Parachute

My group, Anja, Louisa, and I made a parachute out of a plastic garbage bag, string, tape, and sand bags. It had to be able to hold a person or in this case, sand bags. We first tried making a small one but it didn't work. We then cut a larger garbage bag in half. Then we cut a hole in the top to make it even. We then cut holes on each corner, put enforcers around the holes and the tied a piece of string onto each whole. We then taped the three sand bags together and attached the strings to it. We had to test it so we dropped it off the stairs. It worked! This has to do with Newton's third law because there is equal pressure, pushing up and down on the bag.

I think this has to do with mission to mars because we will have to be able to balance things out. In this case is was evening out the weight. I don't have any questions right now.

The Universal Law Of Gravitation

Africa Scores

Robotix lab!

Today my group (Taryn and Unity) and I each built a robot that can push or grab something. Mine was a pusher. I started building it not really knowing what I was going to do. I had to connect the two wheels which was frustrating because it was hard to find the right connector. There are two wheels, two motors, four pusher surfaces (two the front and back. You can see a picture up above. I learned that you really have to balance each side out or sometimes it doesn't work because it is not level.

I think this has to do with Mission to Mars because we will have to do something with robotix or maybe build a robot. I think this had been really interesting. I hope that I can build a bigger and more complicated robot. It was really fun!

Motion Detector Lab

Today we used motion detectors to to do different expirments about acceleratin, speed, and position. I learned that if you moved at the same pace your velocity stays the same and the acceleration is 0. This sometimes confuses me and it interesting that even if your moving your acceleration can stay the same. I think it is really cool. Sometimes when we tried to match the line it would be hard and not as smooth. Lilly and I got pretty close to matching the lines but some were harder to match than others. The velocity was the hardest to match because I don't really know how fast I'm going.

Moving to the moon.

If I moved to the moon and tried to dive into a pool I would get a much different effect than I would on the Earth. Since so little gravity is pulling down on me I would stay in the air longer when I jumped off the diving board. Also when I hit the water I would not go very deep because gravity is not forcing my through the water. Also when I came up throught the water I would come up much faster because I wouldn't weigh as much and also my bouyancy would be stronger than the gravity. On earth it would be the opposite because MORE gravity is pulling down on me. I would not stay very long in the air and I would also dive much farther into the water because the gravity is stronger. It would be fun to swim on the moon!!

Lego Robots

Lab: Lego robots: linear & Conditional Programming

Today my group (Alice, Em, and I) tried to program robots to do different challenges on Mars. We were trying to push a rock lego onto a ramp. We tried different lengths of time and speed. It was hard. We got the rock to get on the rap but it got pushed off because we had the time set for too long. We never got it quite right but we were pretty close! It was fun and challenging.

Through this experimenting with robots, I realized that it does take many small steps to get robots to do interesting and complex things. When i realized this, I thought of each step I wanted the robot to do to get to the complex movements. This made it much easier to do and think about. It helps to break it down.

This made me wonder how long and how many times it took for people to build complex robots and get everything just right! I would like to try again to shorten the time and speed on my robot because we were so close! I think that we use robots in Mission to Mars... maybe that's how it's related.

Launch to the moon!

Lab: Launching from the moon.

This afternoon my group (Honore and Emma S.) and I tried to launch a balloon up a string attached to the wall so it would hit the wall. We taped a balloon to a straw and strung the string through the straw. We then let the air out of the balloon. It did not go anywhere, so it was a failure. Our second try did work though. We tried taping the straw to the ballon in the middle insead ot the end. We then let the air out of the balloon and it went up the sting and hit the wall! We then tried to carry objects up with the balloons but all our trys failed.

This applies to Newton's third law because when the air pushed out of the end of the balloon, but the balloon and straw when the opposite direction than the air going out of the balloon. This is because Newton's third law states: To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is exactly what this experiment shows.

If I could do this expeiriment again I would try different ways to carry objects up to the wall. I don't really have any quesitons at the moment. Although I am not really sure what this has to do with mission to mars I think that we might have to use Newton's third law at some point. I'm not exacty sure though.

Bernoullis Law

For my Bernoulli's Law experiment I blew on top of a piece of paper. When I blew on top of the paper the paper came upward NOT downward. The low pressure was where I was blowing and below the paper was higher pressure, which is why the paper moved upward not downward.

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